Phil de Fegely is an auctioneer trainer and auctioneer and he can be found at www.defegely.com or 0417 013 351. I met Phil many years ago when we both coached at Auskick and I really respect his skills, professionalism and ethics in Auctioneering.

It’s not the slickest of interviews but that is me, I am not the world’s greatest interviewer and Phil is not prone to controversial statements. I got something out of this talk and he has me forced to rethink my stand on bid definition. I hope you find his comments informative.

Mal: Welcome Phil, the Cats are looking a little brittle at the moment.

Phil: Thanks Mal and good luck with the Colliwobbles come finals time. There is no one right way to auction. Every auctioneer has a different style and some of these topical disputes can be avoided by clear processes, explaining those processes to buyers and then good auctioneer technique.

Mal: Most auctioneers say no late bids, so what is a late bid?

Phil: A late bid is a bid after the fall of the hammer.

So what is a bid?

A bid is one that is acknowledged and accepted by the auctioneer.

So what is a late bid?

One that is accepted after the hammer falls.

OK. But some auctioneers seem to drag it out and give a lot of false warnings and say going once, twice, three times an awful lot.

Perhaps some do, but high-quality auctioneers have good technique, give fair warning and then bring the hammer down appropriately. The auctioneer must give fair warning and a reasonable time to accept bids.

I suppose the point is why hold back if you are a bidder at the level?

Absolutely.

What is a disputed bid?

Two people who have made a bid simultaneously or the bidder says he said a different amount or two bidders next to each other are both thinking they are the bidder.

What do you do?

Firstly, the auctioneer should always clearly identify the bidder – eg the man in the hat. If you have a dispute you can reopen it at the last undisputed bid or start again.

What happens if you’ve bought the hammer down?

It shouldn’t happen as you cannot reopen a knocked down property. You should not accept a bid at that point.

So that means an auctioneer cannot reopen an auction on a disputed bid because it is not actually a disputed bid, it is technically a late bid even if it was acknowledged?

Correct.

Well, on what you say I am incorrect in my thoughts on a recent matter and I accept what you say. Learning something every day.

Phil: What would you do, Mal, as a buyer agent if you were the subject of a late bid?

Mal: Well, on what you said I would bid over and try and get the property and then take action post-auction. What do you make of no bidding, Phil?

If the asking price is reasonable and you don’t bid, then I don’t get it. It’s a transparent system.

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